“The Immortals, who considered themselves perfect, found out that their lacking, which had torn at them constantly, was a trait easily found in the mortals, which they had considered far beneath them. In all their might, the Immortals one, great weakness was that they had no feelings. They had been cold and calculating, without emotions, and it was such lack that made them less then they thought they were.”

“Although many Immortals would deny it, and latter pay the price when they lost themselves and were banished beyond death, those few with wisdom would embrace the mortals, calling them equals. From them, the Immortals learned of emotion, of feeling, of loss and love and despair, of happiness and loneliness, of want and desire. And it was such that they learned to long and care for the mortals, and they brought to them many wonders and marvels, establishing great and mighty kingdoms, filled with rich and fertile lands in which the younger mortals could grow and thrive.”

“But the greatest gift of all was a piece of the Immortals power, a small fraction of the greatness that they enjoyed, for which they were worshiped for as gods among mortals. With it, the mortals built many a great and wonderful marvel of their own, with such beauty and elegance that even the Immortals were awed before their splendor. However, in doing so, they also gave the mortals the key to their destruction.”

“For the mortals were young, filled with greater potential then even the Immortals, and they showed frightening proficiency with the spark of the divine known as magic, such as the Immortals feared them. And so, they sought to limit the divine, which came at a terrible cost.”

“With their power, the Immortals rose from the ocean a great island, and on that island, they built a temple. And in the temple, they constructed a fail safe, with the power to steal all the magic from the world, forever sealing it within the temple’s confine. And they sealed the fail safe within the temple, and veiled the island with great and powerful magic, such that all those that set foot upon the island would be lost, doomed to wander the line between life and death until the end of time.”

“Afterwards, the name and location of the island was lost, and the fears of the Immortals were calmed, as the mortals showed great restraint with their gift of magic. Although, as time passed, more of the Immortals lost themselves to madness, letting themselves leave the world of the living when they lost all connections, and many mortal races forgot how to use magic, never again was our world threatened. Immortals pledged themselves to the various mortal races, swearing to guide them along the path to greatness. And as the Immortals and mortals grew closer together, learning from each other, there grew bonds stronger then even death could sever. Even today, those bonds connect those beyond the grave, mortal and Immortal alike, ever a reminder that even gods have much to learn from the magic of friendship.”

Twilight kept going over what she had read again and again. If this was all true, then it raised plenty of questions. It would indicate that Celestia and Luna had been ruling over pony kind far longer then the records indicate, and that there were plenty more like them all over the world. Magic would really be available to every pony, griffin, zebra, dragon, and any other species out there, but then why were unicorns the only ones that could use it? What had happened to make all the others forget? Not to mention this ‘fail safe’ that had been mentioned. What could possibly steal magic? And how could one place possibly be able to contain all the magic in the world? Plus there was the whole bit about the Immortals losing their connection. What did that mean? It must have something to do with their immortality, but what? Did something happen that bound them to this world? She knew that there were a few spells that could bind a pony's spirit to certain locations or people, but those were forbidden, and for good reason. Nothing should be able to interfere with life and death. It simply wasn’t right.

And then there’s the part about how the Immortals couldn't feel. What was that supposed to be like? She couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like, not having any emotions. But how does one learn something like feelings? There wasn’t any way to explain something like that, it’s not even something that can be understood. It simply was, and she didn’t think such things could be understood. The incident with Pinkie Pie’s ‘Pinkie Sense’ served only to solidify her opinion on the matter.

Twilight decided to simply not think much farther on the subject. Things like this hurt her brain, and thinking about it too much only served to make her frustrated. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was nearly time for dinner. She didn’t think she had been reading that long, but her sense of time was often distorted when she was reading or thinking too much, which she was prone to do.

Dinner consisted of grilled apples with hay fries and apple juice. Owlowiscious had already had his dinner (or was it his breakfast, since he was nocturnal?), so it was just her and Spike. They ate in silence, since neither had much to say. Until Spike burped out a letter.

"That's strange," Twilight said. "I don't know of any event coming up that Celestia could need my assistance with, and I didn't-"

Spike burped out another letter, this one different from Celestia's usual correspondence.

Her curiosity peaking, dinner forgotten, Twilight quickly retrieved the letters. Despite her curiosity, her respect for Celestia lead her to read the princess's letter first.

"My Dearest Twilight Sparkle,"

"An old friend of mine has recently come to visit. He has heard many things about you, and has requested to see you. After much thought, I have decided that it is for the best that you two should meet. However, It is still your choice to make, and neither of us will think any less of you should you refuse."

"Ever here for you,"

"Princess Celestia"

Her mind was spinning. Who was this friend of Celestia's? How long had they been friends? How did he know about her? Why did he want to see her, of all ponies?

Thinking that she might find the answers in the other letter, she quickly opened it. Instead of Celestia's red ribbon and golden seal, this one was simply marked with a drop of red wax, with an B pressed into it.

"Twilight Sparkle"

"I've heard of your many exploits with your friends, and I would like to meet the bearer of the Element of Magic face-to-face. I know that you must be filled to the brim with questions, and I will attempt to answer them all, should you agree to visit. However, as much as it pains me, I must ask you to not inform your friends of our meeting at the present moment. Rest assured that, afterwards, you are free to tell them anything you want, except what I explicitly forbid, of course, but for now, there are some things I must tell you that are to remain strictly between you and me. You may tell them that someone of great importance in the royal court has asked to see you in private, but that they would prefer to remain anonymous until further notice. Afterwards, I may request to see you all together, but until then, I must stress the importance of our meeting remaining between you, me, and the princesses."

"An interested ally"

"B"

Now Twilight was even more confused and curious then before, if that was even possible. Celestia had wanted them to keep that fact that she and her friends were the Elements of Harmony quite, and they had told nopony, so how did this "B" know about it? Why did he want to keep this away from her friends? Twilight didn't think that she could do this without her friends, but this "B" had promised answers, and she HAD to know about this. And why all the secrecy? If "B" was a friend of the princesses, then he should be safe at Canterlot, especially if he was staying at the royal castle. Heck, they'd probably throw a banquet in his honor! Why did he want to remain hidden so badly? And why risk it by telling her about him?

But now that her insatiable curiosity was on overdrive, Twilight didn't have any choice in the matter. She loathed that she had to keep her friends in the dark, but she didn't think she could live with herself if she passed this up.

She had made her decision. Already levitating supplies, she said "Spike, take a letter!"

"You got it!" Spike said quickly, his own curiosity replaced with monotony born out of countless letters he had written for Twilight.

"Dear Princess Celestia", she said, Spike already writing it down.

"I would enjoy being able to meet this friend of yours, and I accept your offer. As much as not being able to bring my friends pains me, my desire for knowledge compels me to agree. I eagerly await being able to see you again, and this friend of yours intrigues me to no end. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle."

Spike sealed the letter, and sent it to Celestia. "Who do you think this 'friend' of Celestia's is, Twilight?" he said.

"I have no idea," Twilight said. "I thought I knew of all her friends. I'm guessing she didn't tell me because he wants to remain hidden, and pretty badly at that, but why?"

"Maybe he did something bad," Spike offered. "But what could be so bad he wont even tell his name?"

"I'm sure it's nothing we need to worry about."

"I don't know... all this secrecy doesn't sit well with me. You be sure to be careful, Twilight!"

"Don't worry, Spike! I doubt Celestia would let anything bad happen to me in her own castle!"

"Okay then." He barely had time to finish his sentence before another letter arrived from Celestia.

This time, Spike read it to her.

"My Dearest Twilight,"

"I am glad that you have agreed to visit. I'm sorry that you have to leave your friends behind, but my friend has preferred to remain unknown ever since an incident many years ago. I was a little bit surprised myself that he wanted to see you, as he hasn't shown his face even to me for a very long time. Rest assured, he will not pose any danger, but try not to ask him about the incident, as it is a painful topic to him, and he still hurts himself unnecessarily over it. But as long as you do not bring that up, everything should be fine. An escort will arrive tomorrow afternoon to bring you to Canterlot."

"Ever here for you"

"Princess Celestia"

"See, Spike? I told you I wouldn't be in any danger."

"Well," Spike said, "If the princess trusts him, then I do too! But just what is this incident she referred too?"

"Beats me!" Twilight said with a shrug. "But if he doesn't want to tell, then it's not my place to ask!"

They finished the rest of dinner, then went to bed early in preparation for tomorrow. Twilight had troubled dreams, her mind full of questions she couldn't wait to ask. But one question dominated all others, ever at the forefront of her mind.

What was this incident? What did "B" do? Next Chapter: Chapter 4: A Secret Meeting Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour